Monthly Archives: December 2020

Countering Disinformationhttp://publici.ucimc.org/wp-admin/edit.php to Build a Just Society

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Kiana Kazemi

We have heard a lot about disinformation during this past year, but learning more about how information is manipulated, distorted and deployed to shape social debates can help you recognize when you are being targeted in a disinformation campaign. It … Continue reading →

Posted in African American, Media, Racism, Trump, Women, Youth | Comments Off

White Nationalism in our Own Front Yards

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Janice Jayes

This past summer residents of West Champaign awoke to find their neighborhoods had been leafletted with an insulting anti-immigrant flyer bearing the imprint of the New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA), a group designated as a white nationalist hate group … Continue reading →

Posted in Alt-Right, Racism, White Nationalism, Women, Xenophobia | Comments Off

“It’s Scary Having a Fifteen-Year-Old Son”: Community Voices on Gun Violence in C-U

Posted on 12/06/2020 by FirstFollowers

In the midst of the global pandemic, Champaign-Urbana has its own local epidemic: gun violence. As of July 20, police had received 95 reports in 2020 of shooting incidents in Champaign alone. This is more than double the total for … Continue reading →

Posted in African Americans, African Americans, Gun violence, incarceration, Poetry, Violence, Voices of Color | Comments Off

Separating Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Jenni Walkup

The morning after the 2016 presidential election, I woke up wondering if I was still white. I am Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jewish, and had always felt confident in the safety my light skin afforded me. That day, for the first … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-Semitism, Israel/Palestine, Students, Women | Comments Off

Polish Women Take to the Streets

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Richard Esbenshade

Following an October 22 Polish Supreme Court decision cutting off the main route to legal abortion in the country, Polish women, and many supportive men and children, took to the streets in the biggest mass mobilization in Poland in 40 … Continue reading →

Posted in abortion rights, Feminism, International, International, Poland, Women | Comments Off

Urbana Police Chief Finally Admits Misconduct in Aleyah Lewis Arrest

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Christopher Hansen

It has been more than seven months since the violent arrest of Urbana resident Aleyah Lewis. Tens of thousands of people have watched the videos of Urbana Police Officers throwing Lewis to the ground, pinning her, punching her in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Justice, Police, police accountability, Police brutality, Policing | Comments Off

“The Big Scary ‘S’ Word” is Coming for your Children

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Audrey Wells

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln and Karl Marx had a correspondence; that Helen Keller was a socialist, as was Francis Bellamy, who authored the Pledge of Allegiance; that North Dakota practices public banking; and that in the 1840s … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts, film, socialism | Comments Off

What I Learned While being the Poet Laureate for the City of Urbana . . .

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Will Reger

I learned that the people of Urbana truly appreciated the emphasis on poetry in their public lives. They felt it improved their town in a tangible way. I learned that many poets live in this community who don’t always interact … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts, Local Arts, Poetry | Comments Off

The UCIMC Disinformation Defense Campaign

Posted on 12/06/2020 by Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center

IMC working groups, projects, and partners are working to fight the tide of disinformation. We have just received a grant and extensive educational materials from MediaJustice to do this work. We will focus on racialized disinformation: disinformation campaigns that specifically … Continue reading →

Posted in Media, Racism | Comments Off